04 December, 2019 – A TAX revolt is not the answer to the corruption and criminality that is crippling South Africa’s economy, anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee said on Wednesday.
Instead, he urged, we should all be joining the fight against the criminal tax evaders who are looting the nation of R100 million every day.
Abramjee, founder of Tax Justice South Africa, was responding to a warnings that increasing numbers of SA citizens are threatening to withhold tax in protest against government corruption and mismanagement.
“We have to pressurise government, we have to pressurise civil society, to really make sure that the government gets the billions of rands lost annually,” Abramjee said in an interview on Salaamedia online radio.
“On average, R100 million is lost every day through illicit trade – in the pharmaceutical industry, the food industry, the textile industry, the tobacco industry.
“That is the money that should be invested right back in the community in providing much-needed basic services.
“People are sick and tired of the lack of basic service delivery, and yet it’s the criminals smiling all the way to the bank. We say follow the money and lock them up.
“Money is getting stolen from the economy. We must fight that scourge. Going down the route of a tax revolt is not the solution.”
